| Date | year of the Tiger, 5th day of the new moon of the first summer month = 14 May 1290, Urumi |
|---|---|
| Ilkhan | Arγun |
| Addressee | Pope Nicholas IV |
| Type | letter |
| Script and language | Uyghur script, Mongolian; two red seals with a Chinese legend |
| Material | paper (flax), 110.2 × 26.4 cm; beginning lost; seals 15.3 × 14.9 and 13 × 14.5 cm |
| Kept | Vatican, Archivio Segreto Vaticano, A.A. Arm. I–XVIII, no. 1801 (3) |
| Discovery and first edition | found by Cardinal E. Tisserant in 1921; edition: Mostaert & Cleaves 1952 (doc. B) |
| Text | transcription and translation in the corpus mongoliancorpus.org |
Contents
"Reply to the Pope's call to accept Christianity. Arghun recalls that his father and grandmother favoured Christians but declares that the descendants of Chinggis Khan leave their Mongols free to convert or not — ""only Eternal Heaven knows""; whoever prays to Eternal Heaven and thinks rightly is as if he had become Christian."
Facsimiles
Literature (4)
- Mostaert A., Cleaves F.W. (1952). Trois documents mongols des Archives secrètes vaticanes. PDF · 4.8 MB
- Ligeti L. (1972). Monuments préclassiques 1. XIIIe et XIVe siècles. PDF · 21.9 MB
- Dobu (Добу) (1983). Uyiγurǰin mongγol üsüg-ün durasqaltu bičig-üd. PDF · 119.9 MB
- Tumurtogoo D. (ed.), Cecegdari G. (2006). Mongolian Monuments in Uighur-Mongolian Script (XIII–XVI Centuries). Introduction, Transcription and Bibliography. PDF · 31.0 MB
Source of the data: Mostaert & Cleaves 1952: 420–424, 445–467, pl. II, VI; Ligeti 1972: 248–249; Tumurtogoo 2006: 154–155